Alex's This and That

Title: One Chance
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Teen and up
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Note: I thought about this one a lot.
Summary: Sometimes you only get one chance.

~~~

“I wanted to talk to you. Five years ago, Strange told me we had one chance in 14,000,605 to get this right. He saved me to preserve that chance, so please let me do what I need to do. The rest of you, don’t stop me, no matter what.”

Steve touched his face. “But we just found one another again after so long.”

Tony nodded. “We have tonight, Steve. No matter what happens, we have tonight.”

“I never meant for you to be the one to lay on the wire.”

Tony kissed him. “I think I have to this time.”

Title: Pot, Meet Kettle
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark
Note: The pot calling the kettle black - used to convey that the criticisms a person is aiming at someone else could equally well apply to themselves.
Summary: Only Peter could out talk Tony.

~~~

“What are you doing?” Peter asked Stark.

“Trying to figure out how to get you to stop talking. You make my head spin.”

“I promise I won’t do it anymore, sir. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse and not say anything at all. I don’t mean to talk all the time. It’s just that when I open my mouth, words pour out and they aren’t quite the right ones so I keep on talking and talking and then I’m not sure you get it so I talk some more after that…”

“Peter? Peter? You can shut up now, okay?”

Title: Three Thousand
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Teen and Up
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Summary: Steve loves Tony almost as much as Morgan does.

~~~

Steve drew a portrait, the first one he’d done in years. It was a graphite drawing of Tony Stark sleeping. He didn’t look any calmer in sleep than he ever did when awake.

Steve remembered the night. He and Tony finally made love after all the years they’d wasted arguing and posturing with one another. It had been the night before the mission. Tony had come to him after he said goodnight to Morgan.

“I’ll stay if you promise to love me at least three thousand.”

“No one but Morgan will love you that much.”

They tried. Twenty-five hundred maybe.

Title: Family
Fandom: MCU
Rating: General
Pairing: Natasha Romanov/Steve Rogers
Summary: She only had one family and she wanted to protect them.

~~~

Natasha listened to him snore. Of course, he snored sexy, too. It didn’t sound like a wounded animal, like most snores. His was more like a deep rumble in his chest. She curled up closer to him and lightly touched his face.

“Wanna sleep, Ma,” he mumbled.

His words touched her heart. He still dreamed of his mother after so many years. She had no memory of her mother, no idea who she was.

Steve was her family. They all were, the ones here and the ones missing, and she loved them all. And she loved him most of all.

Title: Killing Vampires and Other Dating Behavior
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Note: Hey, everyone loves Buffy!
Summary: Natasha and Steve watched television and discuss dating.

~~~

“What you watching?” Natasha asked Steve as she sat beside him.

“Buffy.”

She laughed. “Seriously?”

“She’s cute and she fights like you.”

“Like girls who fight?”

“I like strong women.”

She bumped her shoulder against his shoulder. “Carol?”

“Maybe. She’s not here very much, though.”

“So you watch Buffy?”

He shrugged.

“You could like me,” she murmured.

“I do like you.”

“I meant really like me.”

“Are you asking me for a date?”

“I might be.”

“What will we do on a date?”

“Kill vampires?” she asked with a grin.

“Even I can think of something more fun than that.”

Title: Peter Parker's Progress
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Characters: Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan
Note: Mild spoilers for Spiderman; Far from Home
Summary: Pepper checks up on Peter (and Happy).

~~~

“How is Peter doing?” Pepper asked Happy.

“He’s coming along. Mr. Stark would be proud of him.”

“Tony was already proud of him. He acted like he didn’t care much, but he kept a picture of him and Peter in the kitchen. I saw him looking at it more than once.”

“Peter’s a smart kid, too. He’s brainy like the boss.”

“I hope you can keep him out of some of the trouble Tony got into.”

“I think trouble’s already finding him.”

Pepper grinned. “I’m sure you and Aunt May can handle that.”

Happy blushed.

“You’re so cute sometimes, Happy.”

Title: The Deal
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Characters: Rocket Raccoon, Natasha Romanov
Summary: Rocket is not crazy about some human foods.

~~~

Rocket watched Natasha make a peanut butter sandwich.

“Can I taste?” he asked her.

She divided the sandwich and handed him half. He tasted it and spit it out!

“Are you trying to kill me?” Rocket wiped his tongue with a paper towel. “Yuck!”

“Hey, we like them.”

“You people will eat anything.”

“I’ve seen you pawing through the garbage can.”

“You throw away perfectly edible food, better than this peanut butter stuff!”

“You’re in charge of the garbage. Eat what you want before you toss it.”

“Good deal!”

Both of them thought they got the better end of things.

Title: At Loose Ends
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Characters: Nebula
Summary: Nebula wonders about her future.

~~~

They were frail, these humans, but she liked them. They were kind, something she’d never encountered before.

Nebula had never felt lonelier than she did watching them with one another. They touched and they laughed; shared their joy and they shared their sorrow. She’d watched them mourn Natasha and finally Stark. Stark’s mate had thanked her for saving him and bringing him home to her.

She wasn’t sure what she would do after the war. She had no place to go, no one.

Rocket asked her. “You coming?”

“Where?”

“Out there. There’s money to make. People to annoy.”

She went.

Title: A Snake in the Garden
Fandom: MCU
Rating: Gen
Characters: Thor
Note: I loved Thor's Loki stories.
Summary: Thor misses Loki

~~~

Thor sat in Gamora’s chair, clearly aggravating Peter Quill. Actually, most everything he did was to aggravate Quill. It was almost more fun than poking at Loki. At least, Quill hadn’t tried to stab him yet.

Thor remembered that Tony Stark told him that Loki stole the Tesseract when they messed up their time heist in New York. He wondered if Loki had figured out how to get to their time. He really missed his brother, something he wasn’t sure he’d ever say.

He turned to Quill. “Did I ever tell you about the time Loki turned into a snake?”

Title: The Life of Gerald
Fandom: MCU
Rating: General
Character: Gerlad the Alpaca
Note: From a deleted scene - the Starks have an alpaca named Gerald.
Summary: Gerald has a good life.

~~~

Gerald the alpaca had a good life.

He lived by a large lake and his pets were usually nice to him. They were a cute little family. The father and the little one gave him treats and petted him all the time. But the female one – she was special. She yelled at him and fussed at him when the others were around, but when they weren’t, she brought fresh cut grass and little bundles of hay. She patted his head and called him Gerry.

He thought she was a goddess. Only a goddess would be so beautiful and so kind.